In Brazil, the term língua da gente (literally ‘language of the people’) refers to the way that people actually talk in everyday speech. And that, in essence, is the object behind this series. We hope to provide practical lessons that demonstrate how people really speak, and we do this by presenting brief, slice-of-life dialogs, which focus on some daily situation, scenario, or task that we encounter every day.

Each audio podcast, generally between 8-12 minutes, includes the presentation of a brief dialog, a line-by-line English translation, and more in-depth analysis of the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and cultural content in the lesson. Discussion blogs also accompany each lesson, providing community interaction for comments and questions. In broad terms, the lessons are subdivided into three levels of difficulty: Beginning, Elementary, and Intermediate. Additionally we have a cultural show that covers current events and related social issues.

This textbook was developed to meet two distinct yet related needs. The more basic goal was to respond to the paucity of teaching materials suited to the needs of U.S. learners of Malayalam, particularly at the university level. Though some materials had previously been produced both in India and in the US, including three sets of materials co-written by the author, none were at all suited to the needs and purposes of American university students. Some of the author is earlier materials were ad hoc in nature, while the 510-page course written for Peace Corps volunteers concentrated on language for daily social interactions only. Both the Peace Corps materials and most of the materials written in India were written in Roman
transcription, thus making no serious attempt to teach the Malayalam script or the skills of reading or writing.

The Malayalam ·materials produced in India by various scholars or teach~rs were not readily available in the West, and were moreqver designed for Indian learners for whom formal explanations of the grammar and culture are largely unnecessary, since many of the grammar and discourse conventions are similar or identical to those found in their own mother tongues. Thus the texts available at that time lacked much of what was essential to the Western learner of the language. A couple more sets of teaching materials have come out in: the intervening 20 years, and some may now be ordered via the Internet. A partial list of these materials appears in the prologue following lesson Twenty-five in this text. These books are, in
general, designed to prepare the learner to handle everyday living situations in Malayalam, and as such can be useful adjuncts once the present volume has been thoroughly studied.

This text was conceived and designed to go beyond social conversation to prepare the Western learner to use the language as a research tool. To meet this goal the skills pf literacy in Malayalam are essential, but this is only a beginning. It is also necessary to have some familiarity with the formal style of the language, used in most types of written matter and in platform and other types of formal speaking. This is still a need uniquely met by this text. The irony is that our student audience has grown and diversified, so that the textbook for the Malayalam classes here at Texas must serve two rather different types of students. There are still a number of graduate students who seek out Malayalam as a research tool for their academic work. fu the past dozen years or so the Malayalam classes are being taken by increasing numbers of second generation Malayalis who have either been born in North America or spent most of their lives here. They are normally undergraduates whose goals do not include doing academic research in Kerala. They are mainly interested in being able to communicate better with relatives in Kerala and their interest in literacy extends mainly to being able to
write letters to grandparents or other non-English-speaking relatives. The majority of lessons containing conversations with friends and family members in the book can still serve their purposes well.

The second need to be met by this textbook was that of a reference grammar which could be used by linguists to glean accurate information about various aspects of the Malayalam language such as its phonology, syntax (grammar), 'semantics, and discourse. This type of reference grammar could serve both specialists in other Dravidian languages, as well as general linguists examining a specific feature in many unrelated languages.

You may hear that Malayalam is pronounced the way it is written. It’s not. This document provides some strategies for pronouncing Malayalam that may be hard for those with no prior exposure to the language. It is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to focus on common challenges for beginners. Familiarity with the Malayalam script and the basic sounds of each letter is assumed throughout.

For English speakers, the Malayalam sound system contains both familiar and unfamiliar sounds. The Malayalam written script is phonetic, meaning that you say it as you write it (mostly!), and syllabic, meaning that it’s based on an alphabet and the syllables you can make with an alphabet. Therefore, there is a good correspondence between written and spoken Malayalam, though colloquial speech often diverges from standard written forms. This guide summarizes the basic pronunciation of Malayalam letters and presumes that you have spent at least some time learning the basic written letters already. If you grew up speaking Malayalam or hearing it frequently, then this guide may not help your pronunciation much, but it may help you with spelling and a better understanding of the sound system.

What is sandhi? A dictionary definition would say something like “the euphonic combination of sounds to facilitate pronunciation, often also represented in writing.” Sandhi in Sanskrit means “joining” and it refers technically to different ways that words are joined together both when speaking and when writing. Making words easier to pronounce in speech happens everywhere and all the time. Consider the English phrase, “what do you” In some places, it might be said, “whaccha”; in others, “whadya”; and so on. Or, “I am going to” becomes “Imma go ta”; “Let me” becomes “Lemme”; etc. Clearly articulating or distinguishing each word is often inconvenient and the sounds are regularly assimilated in one way or another. When authors try to replicate dialect or speech in English, they often turn to sandhi to capture some of the spoken effect. Sandhi means standardizing these pronunciation changes also in writing.

For English speakers, the Malayalam writing system, or script, may look intimidating. It’s not really. It works a little differently and requires some memorization, but the script is phonetic, meaning that you say it as you write it (mostly!), and syllabic, meaning that it’s based on an alphabet and the syllables you can make with an alphabet. With some hard work, you can learn the script within a week and never look back.

Click a header below to choose a script recognition category, which includes a Quizlet with flashcards to practice. There are four levels, each a little harder than the previous.

Malayalam word search. Search for words relate to emotions, food, animals, body parts, places, weather, relationships, and plants.

This early and very important commentary has been divided by chapter due to its length. Many variants in different editions have been noted, resulting in an improved critical text.

This self-paced course is based on the Nahuatl variant from the Huasteca of Veracruz that is spoken in Chicontepec, Veracruz, Mexico. The principal aim of this course is to develop the student’s oral, written, and comprehension abilities primarily through the study of grammar, listening, and reading. The intended audience for this pedagogical resource is foreign students interested in developing their language skills, as well as native teachers in bilingual schools in the Chicontepec region.

An Interactive Course on Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation.
Pitch Perfect Pinyin is a two-part interactive website for learning Pinyin pronunciation.

A compilation of nearly 350 brief video clips, together with a complete Portuguese transcription and English translation of native speakers of Portuguese from various locations throughout Brazil (and some Portugal) who talk about 80 different topics.

Selection of aural Italian grammar lessons (podcasts). Grammar examples and dialogs are built upon the escapades of Arlecchino, Pulcinella, and other masks of the Italian Commedia dell'arte. Lessons feature topical grammar discussions, dramatic readings, pdf grammar notes ... and general audio zaniness.

Reality Czech is an openly licensed online curriculum for beginning to intermediate-level Czech students. The course aims to be a highly communicative introduction to Czech language and culture and includes over 240 interview compilation videos shot in the style of a reality TV show on a variety of everyday topics such as daily schedule, hobbies, food and drink, studies, holidays, health, weather, and more.

The name Reality Czech reflects not only the centrality of these interviews to the curriculum, but also the textbook’s focus on the vocabulary and constructions Czechs frequently use to talk about everyday topics. The entire course has been shaped by the language used in the interview videos as well as openly licensed content sourced from the internet.

Each of the 10 units follows a sequence of pre-class, in-class, and post-class activities ideal for a flipped classroom:

- Pre-class activities such as Quizlet vocabulary activities, video and audio with comprehension questions, culture notes, and grammar exercises introduce students to new language.
- An activity book for in-class use provides all of the resources an instructor needs to create a communicative classroom experience focused around task-based learning, such as games and activities.
- Post-class activities use both exercises and authentic multimedia texts as a catalyst for students to create language.

The materials all exist natively online in flexible formats such as Google Docs, and are licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, allowing the curriculum to be easily adapted to 100% online delivery.

COERLL has partnered with Rose Potter and Betsy Arnold to publish Recorridos-Don Quijote, a pair of openly-licensed books for the study of Cervantes’ Don Quijote in upper level Spanish courses, including AP. The student workbook, accessible online for free, deepens students’ understanding of the text through reading, pre-reading, and post-reading activities and glosses. The companion teacher support facilitates the teaching of Don Quijote through student-centered strategies and activities, historical and cultural information, quizzes, exams and more.

Rockin Russian is designed to give students exposure to the Russian language and culture through the medium of Russian music videos. Students are able to perfect their grammar while rocking out to music videos from Russia's pop stars. Based on Russian music videos from MTV Russia, Rockin' Russian is supplemented with exercise materials focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammar and cultural features. Parts of the videos are embedded into exercises in each category that students can revisit, strengthening their language skills.

Sarasvatīvilāsa. Ed. R. Shama Sastry. University of Mysore Oriental Library Publications Sanskrit Series, No. 71. Mysore: Governmant Branch Press, 1927.

Smṛticandrikā by Devaṇabhaṭṭa. 5 Vols. Ed. L. Srinivasacharya. Government Oriental Library Series, Bibliotheca Sanskrita No. 44. Mysore: Government Branch Press, 1914–21.

Welcome to Spanish Grammar in Context, where you will find detailed grammar explanations of the Spanish language. Unlike traditional reference grammars, each topic is explained using authentic video examples from the Spanish in Texas project. Accompanying practice quizzes are available on an open Canvas course site.